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HOMERS’ ODYSSEY - EMAIL NEWSLETTER 10
HOMERS’ ODYSSEY - EMAIL NEWSLETTER 11

Reports
Barillas – 13°06.00'N, 88°25.00'W

Barillas, Buoy off marina – 13°15.79'N, 88°29.25'W

Barillas
The following day found us approaching Fonseca Bay, a cruising ground in its own right bordered by Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador. As the afternoon onshore breeze kicked in we had an exhilarating sail, creaming along under spinnaker. In late afternoon we rounded the headland by the entrance, sailing into a quiet, sheltered anchorage off a long beach backed by some large houses and a small fishing village. We had a peaceful night, but awoke early the following morning as a light northerly wind had started up, perfect for getting us out on the tide to sail along the coast to our next destination in El Salvador. It was only about 35 miles to the river entrance at Barillas, but we needed to get the tides right for the 10 mile upriver leg to the sheltered marina in the mangroves.

Reefs and shoals guard the river mouth and its tricky, winding channel, so the marina provides a pilot, easily arranged by calling on VHF about an hour before arrival. He comes out in a panga and leads you in, up the river, then attaches your lines to a club mooring. Then he returns within ten minutes with the marina manager and all the officials to welcome you into the country. Police, immigration, customs, port captain – all have been assembled in response to the initial VHF call. It was all incredibly simple and the easiest check-in to a country we had had for ages. Barillas is not a place where the poor of El Salvador hang out – in fact it is rather more a gilded cage with armed guards around the perimeter and patrolling the extensive grounds. If you leave on foot for a stroll an armed guard will accompany you; if you leave to go for a jog the guard follows on his bicycle. However, as El Salvador has a reputation as the most dangerous country in Central America we were not complaining, and it was great to be able to relax and not have to worry about the boat.

Twice a week the marina provides a free, air-conditioned bus service to the nearest large town about an hours’ drive away. The bus naturally stops at the gate and picks up the armed guard to escort you. The drive runs alongside the resort’s landing strip for light planes, then passes across fairly flat terrain with extensive sugar plantations and other crops before arriving in the noisy, crowded, colourful, large town. With all the hustle and bustle of the open markets and masses of people milling around, some carrying bundles or baskets on their heads, it was somewhat reminiscent of our time in Africa. After dropping the passengers outside the large supermarket the bus driver and guard went off to get our gas bottle filled, all part of the service. Wandering off into the open street markets we found excellent fresh fruit and vegetables, also a bank with a working cash machine, so we were well pleased with the expedition. We did a final hit at the supermarket and then returned to our bus laden with goodies, to be presented with our filled gas bottle. All in all an excellent day out.

There were about a dozen other boats on the moorings around us, all from North America. It is axiomatic that in such company a motor or generator will always be running, no matter what time of day or night. We would wake in the morning to a dreadful diesel drone – essential, we were told, to keep freezers and ’fridges cold, air conditioning working, supply power for DVDs, TVs, sound systems, microwaves, washing machines, watermakers and to charge a bewildering array of sat comms, computers and mobile phones. The list appeared endless and we realised how woefully under-prepared we were for voyaging and living aboard a yacht. To add some local colour it was usual to have a twilight serenade of gunfire as the locals decimated either the wildlife or each other, we were not clear which.

Prior to leaving Barillas Graham had intended to scrub Dream Away’s bottom, as he had last done the job in Panama and she was sporting a fine array of marine flora. However, the sight of a large crocodile swimming past only 20 metres away put paid to that ambition.

On our penultimate day there we just handed our paperwork to the office and collected all the new documents a few hours later – all so easy. The panga turned up on time at 0600 to lead us out, though after a pleasant potter downriver watching the sun rise we had a bumpy hour outside the entrance as the ebb sets up a nasty short sea in the shallows which extend some way out. However it soon calmed down and we were happy again. Little of note occurred over the next few days other than crossing 90°W, which meant that we had travelled a quarter of the way around the world. It seems to be a little further than reported as we have so far logged approximately 17,000 miles. There was some debate aboard as to whether to celebrate crossing the actual 90°W, or 90° from our Southampton departure, so we had to have champagne celebrations two days running.

It was 500 miles past the coast of Guatemala into Mexico and across the infamous Tehuantepec Bay to Huatulco. The winds in the bay require serious consideration, as the topography between its head and the Gulf of Mexico produces an almost perfect Venturi effect, accelerating northerly winds to strengths which have been known to blow shipping hundreds of miles out to sea. However we had been studying the weather patterns carefully and had seen a good window of opportunity, so it was with some satisfaction that we flew our spinnaker across the bay into our first anchorage in Mexico.